The City of Calgary has revealed that it has more capital for a new arena project than initially indicated.

Carla Male, the city’s CFO, has reported that it can draw from $818 million in working capital to help pay for the underfunded project. Previously, the city said it had $537 million in cash available for the development, CBC reported.

The city has agreed to invest $850.3 million altogether. The difference between the city’s available cash and investment commitment had repeatedly raised questions regarding how the shortfall could be overcome.

Male decided to report the working capital details in the city’s 2023 annual financial report, marking the first time that she has done so, CBC reported.

“We’ve always had working capital,” she told CBC. “We just haven’t had that disclosure. I think it’s just the evolution of continuous improvement in reporting and getting better and better. There’s certain other disclosures that change from time to time as we continue to mature transparency with the public.”

The new arena will serve as the new home of the National Hockey League’s Calgary Flames, the Western Hockey League’s Calgary Hitmen and the National Lacrosse League’s Calgary Roughnecks. The teams are owned by the Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation, which is slated to invest $40 million while the Alberta government provides $30 million.

Located in Victoria Park, the new arena site is near the current Saddledome that the Flames, have called home since the 1980s. (The Hitmen and Roughnecks also use the Saddledome as their home base today, but those clubs did not exit in the 1980s.)

Coun. Sonya Sharp told CBC that elected officials were aware that some funds from the working capital pool would be used for the project. The development has the potential to help spark a number of new commercial real estate investments in the area.